Have you ever heard some Christian teacher waxing eloquent about some passage of scripture, and you’re thinking in the back of your mind “That’s not at all what that verse is about!” Yes, you probably think that about me sometimes! Well, there is a common statement that goes something like this: “a text without a context is only a pretext.” In other words, there are those who are masters at taking scriptures out of context and making them say whatever they want. But then those scriptures become meaningless.
In this series we’re going to take a look at a few of those more common examples of scripture that have not just been taken out of context, but where a very large majority of the Body of Christ believes they are saying something that are not. They’re getting it all backward!
OK, not ALL of it is backward. But there are a few things that I would like to discuss that I’ve been thinking about for a long time, specifically, truths from the Bible that Christians seem to get absolutely backward most of the time.
This is not a gripe-fest nor am I trying to accuse, condemn or criticize anyone. I simply want to point out a couple of things that are commonly misunderstood, because when understood in their proper light and proper context, they become much more powerful truths than previously understood. The truth of God is always bigger, more powerful, more glorious than any of us can imagine or describe. And when we see some of these scripture in their true context, I trust that God’s truth will indeed become a bit more powerful, a bit more glorious, and maybe a lot more exciting.
We’ll start in this episode with an easy one: go read/listen to The Romans 7 Debacle here:
http://dangerousheretics.com/2021/01/29/the-romans-7-debacle-part-1-of-4/
This is a very good example of a passage of scripture that has been historically misunderstood and, when properly understood, becomes a tremendously powerful truth that can change lives. When we understand that Romans 7 is basically a picture of the struggle people had under the law, before Jesus ushered in the law of grace, then it all makes sense. Not only does it make sense, but it takes on a vastly more powerful meaning, and gives us strength and identity that we might not otherwise have.
The whole message of Romans 7 is that under the law there was this huge fight between my sinful nature and my spirit man which loves God and seeks to honor Him. But the incredible truth is that this lifestyle of seeming hopelessness has been obliterated by Christ’s atonement, and we are free, free, free! The traditional understanding of this passage is all about bondage to sin, while the real message in Romans 7 turns out to be exactly the opposite of what many believe. We’ve got it all backward!
In the next episode we’ll start with a familiar example of getting it backward. But for now we’ll continue in this episode discussing for just a little while why people believe the way they do, often interpreting the Bible in ways that are not at all close to the clear meaning.
First, I think many Christians just want to be comfortable. And safe. They don’t like it when the boat is rocked. There are certainly many scriptures that make it clear that we are on a battlefield, that we must expend some effort to step into God’s fulness, that sometimes we’re going to be just plain uncomfortable or even in pain. It’s far easier to placate our sensibilities by either misreading scripture or by using certain promises or passages out of context to sooth our restless souls.
Nothing wrong with soothing. The Holy Spirit is called Comforter. Soothing is good. But if it’s at the expense of truth then it’s not so good. Truth must always take center stage, and we submit our emotions and our belief systems to the truth as seen in God’s Word.
I also think there is a lot of bad teaching out there. Just because you go to seminary doesn’t make you a bible scholar. Many seminarians learn techniques and translations more than the actual truth in the word, and therefore spend a lot of time talking about nothing of value. I have a very personal story about an entire denomination that has fallen off the cliff of orthodoxy and don’t even believe any longer that there is anything wrong with abortion!
At the same time, along with bad teaching comes an entire generation (or two) of people who cannot think for themselves, or who do want to do the work of studying the Bible for themselves to know what it really means. Whether it’s spiritual or intellectual laziness, or being so caught up in the things of the world (television, gaming and sports for example) that they have no time or desire to seek spiritual truth, or a host of other reasons, many Christians are content to get their spiritual food from the pastor once a week then go six days without any spiritual food or water. They are starving and don’t know it, so they cling to any truth they hear, no matter how shallow or benign. And they never know the difference.
I never expect you just agree with what I write or say, and leave it at that. I fully expect and want you all to seek out the truth about these things for yourselves. I try to provide scriptures in many cases so you can go check them out for yourselves and confirm whether or not I’m keeping things in their proper context. “Now these people [the Bereans] were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Don’t get it all backward. Be a Berean!